In open letter, Asian cardinal warns Americans of ‘moral failure’ over Iran war
MANILA, Philippines – Filipino Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, one of Asia’s most prominent Catholic prelates, wrote an open letter to Americans and warned them of “moral failure” in the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
David, vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, said he fears that President Donald Trump’s threats on Iran could replicate the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The US had dropped atomic bombs on these Japanese cities during World War II, killing over 170,000 people.
The open letter drew praise and criticism on Facebook, prompting him to personally respond to commenters who accused him of siding with Iran. Many of the comments “reflect a form of Christianity that has become entangled with politics, ideology, and cultural tribalism,” said David in an email to Crux Now on Thursday.
The open letter, which has received over 4,300 likes and 2,900 shares as of Friday, appealed to Americans to “stop pretending this is only about one man.” He said, “A leader does not act alone. A leader is chosen, carried, and enabled. And so this is about you.”
Describing Trump as an “emperor,” David said: “If this escalates — if war crimes remain unchecked, if international law is ignored, if bombs continue to fall, if cities continue to burn, if your emperor unleashes weapons of mass destruction — do not say: ‘It was not us.’ History will not accept that excuse. And neither will God.”
The cardinal said it is “moral failure,” not leadership, “when power is used without restraint, when war is chosen without listening, when destruction is justified as strength.”
“Only you have the power now to stop what must not be unleashed. Refuse what must never be justified,” David told Americans. “Do not let history record that you saw what was coming — and did nothing.”
“Because if this line is crossed again, the blood will not be on one man’s hands alone. It will be on yours,” said David, 67, who was also a staunch critic of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
Filipino supporters of the U.S. war on Iran, however, rejected David’s open letter to Americans. One of his critics called him “Bishop David Ayatollah,” attaching to his name a title for Shiite Muslim leaders. Another critic said his Facebook post favors “the terror being sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
David, in his replies to critics, said he was in no way condoning Iran. “There are indeed actions by the Iranian regime that contribute to instability, and these should not be ignored or excused,” the Filipino cardinal told one commenter.
Responding to another, David said he would like to tell Iran that “the rest of the civilized world” sympathizes with their country for America and Israel’s “unjustified attacks right in the middle of negotiations.”
David continued: “But where will evil for evil, violence for violence, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, might for might, lead us to? You have a civilization much older than that of America. Your ancient emperor Cyrus showed a high level of humaneness. It’s your turn to show that high level of civilization by going for a solution founded on moral diplomacy.”
Speaking to Crux Now, David said that such comments show how faith, instead of being shaped by the Gospel, “sometimes becomes a language through which people defend prior political loyalties.”
“In such cases, Christianity is no longer lived as discipleship under the Cross, but as identity reinforcement — God enlisted on the side of one’s nation, one’s party, one’s preferred strongman,” the Filipino cardinal said.
“At the same time, I do not wish to judge people harshly,” David added. “Many reactions are driven by fear, confusion, inherited worldviews, and selective exposure to information. This is why patient engagement remains important. One cannot simply condemn; one must also teach. The task of the Church is to help form consciences, not merely to win arguments.”